Devil's Knot

"Devil's Knot" has gotten a lukewarm reception from audiences and this is ill-deserved. The film is a perfect-pitch plainsong retelling of the case of the West Memphis Three. Atom Egoyan is a master of understated film-making, but perfectly depicts the aura, atmosphere, cultural inclinations and Bible-belt provincial biases of the participants without being garish. Marvelous performances from Reese Witherspoon, Bruce Greenwood,Colin Firth and several others are on view here. Mireille Enos's lightning-catching turn as Vicki Hutcheson, in which she brilliantly channels uneducated de classe white-trash coarseness, is worth sitting through the entire film. The esteem in which this competent film is held will grow with time.

"If you don't have a strong case the state is gonna kill 3 young men and I can't stand by and watch that happen." In 1993 three 8 year old boys were savagely murdered. The state tried three teenagers as adults for the killings and claimed they were murdered as part of a satanic cult ritual. This is the story of the trial and how Ron Lax (Firth) tried to help the defense and how one of the mother's (Witherspoon) dealt with the loss and aftermath. I knew very little of the actual story going in. This is a movie that reminded me of the Aviator in the way that I watched a documentary and read more about the events after it was over and found those to be better and more interesting then the movie. The cast is great and has many big names as well as 3 Oscar winners, but at best this felt like a made-for-TV movie. I found it hard to really get into and was disappointed especially with this cast. I'm not saying it's not worth seeing but if you get a chance read and watch anything else on the West Memphis Three, you will be more informed and more interested then you would if you watch this movie. Overall, not bad but could have been so much better. I give this a B-.

Based on the book by the same title, DEVIL's KNOT is a docu-drama about the 1993 ritual murders of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. This film does not contain any basic information that is not already covered in the documentaries PARADISE LOST and WEST of MEMPHIS. It does, however, provide some fairly interesting reenacted personal perspectives of the various parties: victims' families, the accused "Memphis 3" and certain of their friends, the police and prosecution, the defense teams, etc. DEVIL's KNOT makes for a compelling enough show and is expertly filmed with decent but not great acting. Though I'm sure that there are some misrepresentations of certain details, it is faithful to the basic events of this case. The biggest limitation is that those who have read the various books and seen earlier films will not find anything terribly new here while casual viewers who are unfamiliar with the case will find all the various characters and shifting perspectives confusing.

Colin Firth gives a nice performance as private investigator for the defense Ron Lax; ditto for Reese Witherspoon as Pam Hobbs. DEVIL's KNOT might have worked better with a stricter focus on one or maybe both of these characters, even if that meant ignoring certain other people and factors in the case.

Regardless, this film is very revealing of how incompetent police work, selective use of evidence by the prosecution, and public hysteria in this rather superstitious Bible Belt community led to the denial of reasonable doubt for the accused "Memphis 3." Without telling you what to think or pointing the finger unduly, it also cursorily examines other potential suspects. There are some brief bits of courtroom drama, but again, the focus changes just as things get really interesting.

In short, DEVIL's KNOT is quite watchable, but the attempt to tell the entire story in a narrative of less than two hours is inadequate and dissatisfying.

WARNING: Though there's not a lot of gore, there are some brief and graphic post mortem shots of the young victims.

There are very few instances in this world where the reality of the matter is more interesting than any form of fiction. Such is the case with Canadian director Atom Egoyan's newest film Devil's Knot. Gripping, chilling, and in many instances disturbing, the film is a mildly rewarding take on a story that doesn't need a feature film to highlight anymore high tension than it already has.

Tackling the very daunting task of offering new insight in the on-again/off-again case of the West Memphis murders, Devil's Knot is a short yet ample "For Dummies" version film about a case that has been exhausted through documentaries (the Paradise Lost documentary film trilogy and West of Memphis) as well as various biographies, books and extensive media coverage.

Egoyan's film, which is based on the book Devil's Knot by Mara Leveritt, is really the first high- profile film project (excluding Peter Jackson's producing credit in West of Memphis) with A-List actors who paint a vivid picture of the people involved in the case, the victims and the "accused". From Reese Witherspoon to Colin Firth, the film is a by-the-numbers drama with sub-powerful performances that gives off a satisfactory feeling of relief; a relief that suffices only from the time you leave the theatre, to the time you get home and find out more about the case yourself.

The film follows Ron Lax (Firth), a private investigator who decides to take on the West Memphis case pro-bono in what we understand to be the pursuit of a "rightful conviction". Throughout his investigation, Lax uncovers numerous instances of judicial injustice, inconsistencies in the evidence, and improper police protocol that would have been crucial to solving the case and proving the innocence of the three young accused.

Egoyan is no stranger to dramas centred around the tragedy of the loss of children, or innocence for that matter. It seems as though no one else could have adapted Leveritt's book as throughly as him, yet Egoyan's vision is always second-string to the facts and the reality of the case itself. Often times veering in the direction of a 'made-for-televison film', or treading the fine line of being a special episode on CSI or Law & Order, the film is a washed out, third party perspective that attempts to be unbiased throughout, but still takes a strong side by the time the credits roll.

Much like the case itself, the film was able to round out a very high-profile group of individuals in front of the camera, especially given the small nature of the film and it's light $15 million budget. From Mireille Enos, Alessandro Nivola, Amy Ryan, Dane DeHaan, and Matt Letscher, to television stars Stephen Moyer and Martin Henderson, and Egoyan favourites Elias Koteas and Bruce Greenwood, the film is a star-studded festival entry despite it's surface level insight, cowardly execution and lack of style.

The film succeeds when it trembles the notions of stereotypes and common, misunderstood motifs. Once tragedy struck, the town of West Memphis seemed to be content with the fact that Damien Echols (James Hamrick) and his two friends, Jessie Misskelley Jr. (Kristopher Higgins) and Jason Baldwin (Seth Meriwether), were accused of murder solely because they listened to heavy metal music and dressed in black. The film shows the ridiculousness of society's stubborn ability to shed little light on the truth of misunderstood forms of art.

Set within the small town, low income, 'Bible Belt' of the United States, the film shows the very colourful contentions between the presence of the "unholy", as well as how quick people are to vilify anything it doesn't understand, even if that means sentencing an innocent teenager to death. It is in the scenes where Lax investigates the facts that could potentially lead to these young men's freedom, that the film flourishes leaps and bounds. From unaccredited sources and not-so-expert witnesses, to completely fabricated testimonies, the film acts as Lax's own personal assistant, as he navigates a seamlessly normal town which actually might have a few skeletons in it's closet after all. The film shows just how convenient and perfect the outcasts of society, especially within the small Hillbilly pockets of the United States, really are.

Highlighting the ignorance of small-town Southern US communities, the laughable prediction amidst the accusations of alleged Satanic rituals, and giving a very graphic and unabridged look on how these innocent little boys were recovered from a lake (aptly titled the Devil's Den), Devil's Knot would have worked best as an HBO special. Instead it succeeds best as a visual piece of narrative whose greatest testament is allowing it's audience to indulge in shocking images and discomforting truths. Ironically enough, Devil's Knot is riveting most when no dialogue is spoken–in the scenes involving the search and discovery of the bodies and the reactions of the victim's parents, especially Witherspoon's.

Upon conclusion, and much like the case itself, the film continues to insinuate that within the small town of West Memphis, Arkansas, everybody may be a real suspect in the unwarranted murder of three eight-year old boys. If anything, Devil's Knot is an appetizer size, introductory piece of narrative cinema that will surely serve as a catalyst for people to look into the complexity and uncertainty of one of America's most misunderstood and poorly investigated murder cases of all time.

I had loosely heard of the West Memphis Three for years, but only now do I understand the full story. I'd say that Atom Egoyan is the proper director, since he specializes in grim topics (a school bus crash, the Armenian Genocide, etc). The preacher's claim that satanic music caused the defendants to commit the murders sounds like the typical stuff that we hear from religious nuts. As for the movie's focus on Stevie Branch's family as opposed to all three families, it was most likely because they cast Reese Witherspoon as the mother.

The movie ends by noting what happened in the years after the trial ended. What's most intriguing is that the man who came into Bojangles's and was never seen again. What secrets do all the people in West Memphis hide? Whatever the case, this sounds like one horrifying event. "Devil's Knot" is not a great movie, but I recommend it. Also starring Colin Firth, Mireille Enos, Alessandro Nivola and Bruce Greenwood.